{"id":11051,"date":"2015-04-22T06:00:53","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T10:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=11051"},"modified":"2015-04-22T06:00:53","modified_gmt":"2015-04-22T10:00:53","slug":"gas-attack-2nd-battle-of-ypres-begins-in-1915","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/gas-attack-2nd-battle-of-ypres-begins-in-1915\/","title":{"rendered":"Gas Attack! 2nd Battle of Ypres Begins in 1915"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thursday, April 22, 1915<\/i><\/p>\n

In billets, St. Jean<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: “Heavy shelling of Ypres and vicinity began.\u00a0 At 5 p.m. received orders to stand to.\u00a0 At 6 p.m. the battn. less No. 2 Coy began to move up towards St. Julien, shelling continues.\u00a0 On way up Ypres-St. Julien road, one gun of a British R.H.A. battery galloped past battn. and came into action in field on left of road just above Wieltje.\u00a0 1, 3 & 4 Companies took up positions in G.H.Q. line at 3rd<\/sup> Bde Headquarters.\u00a0 No. 1 Co. under Major Shaw, with Major Warminton 2nd<\/sup> in command, and Lieuts. Terroux and Porteous \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0occupying trenches west of 3rd<\/sup> Bde. H.Q. (on Pilkem side).\u00a0 Nos 3 & 4 in trenches east of Bde. H.Q. between them and Ypres-St. Julien road.”\u00a0<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

\"22<\/a><\/p>\n

THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY:\u00a0The 14th Battalion history, elaborates:\u00a0\u201cAt about 3 o\u2019clock on the afternoon of Thursday, April 22nd, 1915, the Germans opened a tremendous bombardment of Ypres, the roads leading from that city to the front line, and the trenches forming the rim of the Ypres salient. Guns of all calibres joined in this drum-fire, wrecking and devastating the lines of communication and tearing great gaps in the Ypres defences. Obviously such a bombardment heralded an attack on a major scale and the Allied forces stiffened to meet the blow. Little reply could be made to the German fire, however, owing to a pronounced shortage of guns and ammunition. In all France at this time the British Army controlled but 700 field guns and some 71 guns larger than 5-inch. The task of hurling back the German attack, therefore, fell to an overwhelming degree on the ever-willing and devoted infantry\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the attack opened on the afternoon of April 22nd, the 14th Battalion, \u2026 lay in billets in St. Jean and St. Julien. No. 2 Coy., in St. Julien, formed part of a special reserve and came under the orders of Lieut.-Col. F.O.W. Loomis, Town Commandant of St. Julien, and Commanding Officer of the 13th Battalion. As soon as it became certain that the Germans had penetrated the French lines to the Canadian left, Lieut.-Col. Loomis ordered Major Hanson to take up a defensive position north of St. Julien and between the Steenbeek and the St. Julien \u2013 Keerselaere Road. Heavy fire was encountered during the move forward and after the position was occupied, Major Hanson, the Company Commander, and Lieut. W.K. Knubley suffering severe wounds and Capt. Steacie<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, second-in-command, being killed. Command of the company thereupon devolved on Capt. W.C. Brotherhood, who dug in and linked up with Capt. R.Y. Cory, who commanded a half company of the 15th Battalion on the right. Later Cory sent to Brotherhood\u2019s support a party of approximately 200 French coloured troops, under a gallant subaltern, who were requested to dig themselves in on Brotherhood\u2019s left. The French troops were willing, but were discovered by a French senior officer, who sharply ordered them to the rear. This senior officer appeared dazed and was obviously lost, none the less the subaltern in command of the Turcos dared not disobey his explicit orders and the French troops accordingly withdrew.<\/em><\/p>\n

As the position of No. 2 Coy. was vital to the safety of the troops on the forward flank, Lieut.-Col. Loomis gave orders that it must be held at all costs. In obedience to these orders, the men of the company prepared to hold on, come what might. Shell fire poured on the position throughout the night, halting occasionally to permit sharp attacks by battle patrols of the enemy.\u201d<\/em> [3]<\/p>\n

St. Julien and Kitcheners Wood:<\/strong>\u201cThe Second Battle of Ypres was the first time Germany used chemical weapons on a large scale on the Western Front in the First World War. The Second Battle of Ypres actually consisted of four separate battles:<\/p>\n